The Golden Age of Islam

The Caliph al-Mahdi and Patriarch Timothy I had a famous debate at the height of the Abbasid Caliphate about the differences between Christianity and Islam, over a thousand years ago.  It stands as one of the greatest examples of mutual understanding and respect between the two faiths.

One of the first Christian writers to write about Islam was the Orthodox monk, St. John of Damascus.  Writing from the center of the Umayyad Caliphate, he offered harsh warnings about Islam in his book of heresies.  It was the first of many attempts of Christian Europe to deal with the coming of Islam, but John is still quoted today as an authority.

In this episode, we look at the early biographies of The Prophet Muhammad from his origins to the beginning of his prophetic ministry.

On the eve of Islam, Arabia was a mixture of hundreds of competing tribal gods, monotheism, Christianity and Judaism.  Sorting the history from the legends of this pre-Islamic past remains a challenging task.

Like any religion, Islam was shaped by the culture in which it emerged.  The rules and values of the Bedouin - from the treatment of women to concepts of honor and leadership - would impact the Islamic society that grew out of Arabia.  In this episode, we take a look at that culture to understand what Islam preserved and what it changed.

In this episode, we look at the third of the founding sultans of the Ottoman empire, Murad I, whose victory over the Serbs at Kosovo would be invoked 600 years later as a cause for war.

As a divided Europe fights among itself, the Ottoman state continues to establish itself as the new power of the age.  In this episode, we discuss Orkhan I, second of the three founding sultans of the Ottoman Empire.

The great empire that would rule from North Africa to Arabia and threaten the gates of Vienna started from the most humble origins.  The leader of a small Turkish tribe escaping the Mongol advance, Osman the First would lay the foundations of the last great empire of the Golden Age of Islam.

The richest merchant of Mecca and the first person to convert to Islam, Khadija was one of the most important people in the early history of Islam.

In 1492, seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain come to an end and History takes a very sharp turn.  Today we discuss the reasons for the fall of Granada and its implications on all sides.

Despite the constant threat of the Christian Reconquista from the north, the last Muslim foothold in Spain, the Emirate of Granada, managed not only to survive, but to flourish for over two centuries, leaving some of the greatest symbols of Muslim culture in Europe.  Hear how skillful leadership managed to defy the odds and sustain a mini-Golden Age.

The fighting in Spain and Portugal turns into a bona fide Crusade, with both sides seeing themselves appointed by God to save the true religion.  In this episode, we look at the lesser known, but at times, higher priority crusade against Islam: the battle for Iberia.

Almost immediately after the Muslims conquered Iberia, the long fight for control began.  What would be called by Europeans a "Reconquest" would take nearly eight centuries and leave lasting marks on both sides.  In this episode, we look at the beginnings of this long battle.

A thousand years ago, the mysterious philosophical group Ikhwan al-Safa' imagined humankind put on trial for its treatment of the animals.  Far ahead of their time in thinking about rights and compassion, the Ikhwan remain controversial and inspiring.

The Brethren of Purity, or Ikhwan al-Safa' were one of the most mysterious, yet influential groups of philosophers.  A secret society of eclectic thinkers, they attempted to reconcile all the world's knowledge--from Greek, Hindu, Persian, pagan, Christian and Muslim sources--into a single system that explained everything.  How did they do?  We will see in this episode.

Before Dante and long before Bill and Ted, the great Arab writer Abu 'Alaa' al-Ma'arri described a mythical journey into Heaven and Hell that challenged the views of religious officials of his day.  He remains as popular and controversial today as ever.

Proper values and behavior of the elite in the Golden Age capitals of Baghdad and Cordoba was not just a matter of trial and error.  Detailed manuals of adab taught what was expected in respectable society.  Today we look at one of the greatest of these, The Unique Necklace of Ibn Abd Rabbih

In the conflict between philosophers and religious writers of the Golden Age, no question was more divisive than the eternity of the world.  Although it may seem abstract today, this was the ultimate litmus test back then.  In this episode, we look at how both sides lined up on this issue and why they considered the others infidels.

In this episode, we look at the conflict between religious traditionalists and rationalist philosophers for the upper hand in Islamic society.  What was at stake in the heated debates about the role of religion vs. science, revelation vs. logic and the philosophers against the traditionalists?  How would the outcome of that conflict shape the direction of society in the future?

The battle between Philosophy and Religion; Reason and Revelation; it has been at the heart of debate within Muslim circles throughout the Golden Age.  This episode looks at one of the last, and most influential voices on this subject: the Andalusian intellectual Ibn Rushd.  He is one of the few Muslim thinkers to be as famous in the West as in the Muslim world.  Known as Averroes in Latin, he was a major influence on European philosophy, but managed to get himself declared a heretic by the Pope.

The mighty Almoravid dynasty lasted only a century before it was overthrown by another another great Berber dynasty- the Almohads.  In this episode, we look at the fearless and determined founder of the dynasty, the controversial Ibn Tumart, who would change the face of North Africa and Spain for centuries.

The Amoravid Berber dynasty established an empire that stretched from Ghana to the north of Spain.  For centuries they would fight against the Christian conquest from the North and leave a lasting impression on Spain and the Western Muslim World.

The continuation of the influential philosophical work Hayy Ibn Yaqdhan, in which the hero discovers the deepest truths of the universe while on a desert island, without the aid of teachers or language.

One of the most influential Arabic works of the Middle Ages, Ibn Tufayl's "philosophical novel" Hayy Ibn Yaqdhan has influenced Western literature from Rousseau to Tarzan.  An allegory for Classical Muslim Rationalist ideas about education, freedom, religion and philosophy, the classic work finds echoes in Robinson Crusoe and the Jungle Book.

In the 800s, Baghdad sat at the center of an international trading empire stretching from Europe to China.  In this episode, we look at how travelers saw the countries of the Indian Ocean and Far East and how they viewed their own culture in relation to those.  From exotic animals, strange rituals, the universal acknowledgment of the superiority of Islam and, of course, the opportunity to make vast fortunes.

In the continuing disagreements over the role of ethnicity in the Muslim Empire, the 9th Century classic "The Excellence of the Arabs" was seen as a definitive word.  This book, by a renown Baghdad scholar lays out the case for what makes Arabs special, traits that have continued to be admired until this day.

While Arab pride was growing in the Abbasid empire, similar movements of ethnic and cultural pride among Persians and other groups were also emerging.  This episode looks at the reaction to expressions of Arab superiority and the competition to determine the cultural direction of the empire.

Arab culture and Islam are often associated in our minds, but has this always been so?  In this episode we look at the emergence of the "Arab" identity in early Islam and the reaction of other peoples in the empire.

A popular Sufi teacher was executed in eighth century Baghdad for publicly declaring "I am the Truth!"  Yet today, many consider him a visionary with knowledge beyond normal understanding.  Mansour al-Hallaj was but one of the early Sufi masters who challenged established systems of knowledge, power and social order.  In this episode, we look at those who pushed, and came to define, the boundaries of spiritual experience.

The best-selling poet in the United States is the 13th century Islamic mystic, Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, who taught a path of devotion to God leading to merging of one's self with God.  Centuries later, he has become an inspiration to seekers from all religions, from Zen Buddhists to New Age spiritualists.  But do the modern interpretations of his verses that adorn bumper sticker and coffee mugs reflect the true nature of his teachings?

Ibn Khaldun is one of the rare Muslim intellectuals who is famous in the West, cited by everyone from Arnold Toynbee to Ronald Reagan.  He has been called the father of the modern discipline of History, as well as the Social Sciences in general.  All these claims have been disputed.  Nonetheless, Ibn Khaldun gave the world a theory about the rise and fall of empires that did not depend on mystical or religious explanations, and has become a part of our understanding of History today.

UPDATE: This episode is now complete! It was partially cut off when it was originally published.  Sorry for the inconvenience. Moroccan born Ibn Battuta traveled over 75,000 miles, to 44 countries in the 14th century, greatly exceeding the record of any European traveler.  Yet he was not an explorer by profession; he was an Islamic jurist who traveled the length and breadth of the Muslim world on business, serving as a soldier in Spain, judge in India and ambassador to China.  Ibn Battuta was a man of his times and his life reflects what was possible in the Muslim world of his day.

Among the most controversial of Muslim thinkers, Ibn Taymiyya has been lumped with al-Ghazali as responsible for "what went wrong."  In this episode, we look at the reality of a man whose quotes and misquotes have been at the heart of controversy for centuries. 

Among the great Muslim warriors of history, few could match Baybars al-Bunduqari.  A slave in the empire of Salah al-Din, born neither Arab nor Muslim, he would defeat the Crusaders, stop the Mongols and establish the new state that would lead the Muslim world for centuries.  Seen as the true founder of the Mamluk empire, he helped changed the nature of the Muslim world up to the modern era, for better and worse.

As the Mongols devastated the great capital of Baghdad, killing thousands and throwing the contents of its great libraries into the river, the Muslim civilization received a blow from which it would never fully recover.  This civilization would be permanently altered by the trauma of this destruction, from which a new center of power would emerge.

For nearly six centuries, an empire of slave soldiers dominated the Muslim world and stopped all conquerors.  The era of the Mamluks was one of contradictions - a time of constant instability but of great economic, scientific and artistic achievement.  Leaders who struggled to hold onto their own positions struck fear in the nations around them.  In this episode we look at the system that, for better and worse, would shape the Muslim world for centuries.

The great hero of the Crusades, and the exemplar of the Muslim warrior for generations to come was Salah al-Din, known as Saladin in the West.  Today's episode looks at how he ends a century of Crusader occupation, liberates Jerusalem and wins the respect of his European adversaries.

After the disaster of the First Crusade, Muslim resistance develops very slowly.  Only after two generations will Muslim leaders become more interested in fighting the Crusaders than each other.  In this chaotic environment, the first effective leaders against the Crusades: Zengi, Nur al-Din and Salah al-Din emerge.

Certainly the darkest period of Muslim-Christian interaction, the two centuries of religious wars known as the Crusades continues to color attitudes toward the West today.  While these campaigns are usually studied from a perspective of European politics, they changed the Muslim world in ways so profound that we continue to feel them today.  Yet Muslim images of the Crusades are little studied in the West.

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali has been blamed for closing the door on Islamic science and starting an era of conservatism that continues to hold back the Muslim world.  Is this harsh reputation warranted?  In this episode, we look at the reality and the legend of al-Ghazali and his effects on the intellectual climate in Islam.

The mighty Abbasid Caliphate had disintegrated into a collection of warring city states, while Shi'ite authorities had come to dominate the Muslim world.  A new power was rising in the East, however, which would bring about a Sunni revival and stretch to the gates of the Byzantine Empire.  The rising Seljuk Turkish state would come to dominate the Caliphate, institute a new era of Sunni conservatism and frighten Europe enough to spark the Crusades.  

This episode looks at how the Umayyads forged Muslim Spain into a great emirate, separate from the Caliphate in Baghdad, and which would be the cultural rival to the great Abbasid Empire.  Their capital, Cordoba, was the largest city in Europe, surpassing Constantinople, and a center for transmission of knowledge into Europe.  It was a time when the greatest world powers were rival Muslim states.

The place where Christian Europe and the Muslim world had the most interaction was the Iberian Peninsula during the nearly 800 year reign of Islam there.  When the Muslim forces landed in 711, Spanish did not exist.  Over the next eight centuries, al-Andalus, as it was known, was one of the great centers of learning and culture, rivaling Baghdad and Cairo to the East, and was the point of the greatest transfer of knowledge from the Muslim world into Europe.  This episode looks at the conquest and establishment of the Muslim province of al-Andalus.

The Fatimid Caliphate reached its height under the rule of al-Hakim, known in Western history as "The Mad Caliph."  Jews, Christians and Sunnis felt the harsh nature of his oppression, while a new religion developed with him as a god.  But the sciences and arts also reached a peak during his reign.  Al-Hakim remains a controversial, but important figure.

A fugitive Imam in a remote prison in the Sahara was an unlikely candidate to establish the most powerful state in the Muslim world. With the Abbasid Caliphate in decline, the Isma'ili Shi'a established a rival Caliphate whose capital, Cairo, would grow to be the largest city in the world and the center of the Arab/Islamic world for centuries.  Although we associate Shi'a with Iran and Persia today, this Arab Shi'ite empire would be the foundation of the modern Arab world as we know it.  

By the eleventh century, the great Abbasid empire was beginning to crumble.  The Caliphs had been weakened, the Turkish military dominant.  On the periphery of the empire, rebellious groups were forming new states.  Among these, the Isma'ili Shi'a would become the most powerful, establishing a rival caliphate that overshadowed the Abbasids.  The line of Isma'ili Imams continues to this day.  In this episode, we look at the Isma'ili Shi'a: where they came from, what they believe and why they posed a threat to the Abbasid Caliphate.

In the Golden Age of Islam, Rationalist Mu'tazilites and Traditionalist Hanbalis debated the proper direction of Islamic thought, theology and exploration.  The man who tried to bridge the gap, and whose name today is synonymous with Orthodox Sunni theology was Al-Ash'ari.  His answers to the tough questions of the nature of the universe, of the Qur'an and free will would come to be the definitive positions of Sunni Islamic doctrine until today.  In this episode, we look at the man, his task and his theology.

Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West) represents the ideal of Classical Muslim intellectual.  His Qanun of Medicine would be the primary medical textbook in Europe for 500 years.  And though he wrote on a huge range of subjects, it is for philosophy he is best known.  Before him, philosophers commented on Aristotle; after him, they commented on Ibn Sina.

The Islamic empire not only made history, but was deeply involved in the study of history.  In this episode we look at the early chroniclers of Islamic history and how they viewed their place in history, names like Ibn Ishaq, Ibn al-Nadim and al-Tabari, who are frequently quoted today.

Members of elite society in the Islamic empire were expected to follow a highly developed code of behaviors.  The current word for "Literature" - al-adab - refers to the values and behaviors of the elite.  A huge body of Literature was produced in Arabic in the Abbasid period that gives us a window into those values, and the master of Arabic prose was the great al-Jahiz.  In this episode we look at the rags-to-riches story of this great writer and the values he exalted. 

With the central authority of the Caliphate in decline, Emirs of regional and city states prospered.  One of the most successful of these was Aleppo in Syria, where warrior prince Sayf al-Dawla (Sword of the State) sponsored the greatest Arabic poet, al-Mutanabbi and the second great Arabic philosopher, al-Farabi.  In this episode we look at the flourishing artistic and intellectual climate in a time of constant military conflict.